


The Best Hands Are Our Own

by spagbol99



Category: Marvel, Marvel Cinematic Universe, Spider-Man (Tom Holland Movies), Spider-Man - All Media Types, The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: Angst, Avengers Family, FebuWhump2021, Gen, Hurt Peter Parker, Hurt/Comfort, Identity Reveal, Peter Parker Needs a Hug, Peter Parker Whump, Post-Captain America: Civil War (Movie), Post-Spider-Man: Homecoming, Protective Peter, Protective Tony Stark, Secret Identity, Spider-Man Identity Reveal, Tony Stark Acting as Peter Parker's Parental Figure, Tony Stark Needs a Hug, Whump
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-03-01
Updated: 2021-03-12
Packaged: 2021-03-13 01:34:41
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 18,725
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29768694
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/spagbol99/pseuds/spagbol99
Summary: The kid is acting off.Tony Stark isn't sure when it became his problem to fix it.Peter hasn't been himself for a few weeks.  Passing out, falling asleep on the job and now mouthing off.  Will Tony figure out what is going on before Peter takes it too far?Febuwhump Prompts:  'hey, hey, this is no time to sleep' and 'don't look'.  Chosen for me by the lovely Penguinmediamogul.
Relationships: May Parker (Spider-Man) & Peter Parker, Peter Parker & Avengers Team, Peter Parker & Tony Stark, Steve Rogers & Tony Stark, Tony Stark & Avengers Team
Comments: 126
Kudos: 308
Collections: Irondad_and_Spideyson





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This is my 'just about squeezed it in on time in some time zone' entry for Febuwhump2021. 
> 
> It was meant to be my first time ever writing a one shot. 
> 
> Now it is my first time ever writing a story less than 70K! Opps!

**Chapter One**

It was the familiar ‘thunk’ of a body hitting a hard surface that cut through his concentration. Tony Stark wasn’t easily distracted when he was focussed on a task but a part of his mind, a new part that seemed to have grown lately, remembered that the only other person in the room was a teenage superhero that he somehow seemed to have acquired over the last few months. 

He looked up to see the bottom of a worn-out sneaker and a body attached to it in a heap on his tiled floor.

“Peter!” Tony made it over to the boy quickly, who looked paler than the off-white science pun t-shirt he was wearing. 

The teen didn’t move but Tony’s heart rate did – up a few notches. 

Tony put two fingers to the boy’s neck and much to his relief, found a strong pulse. He cupped his fingers around the kid’s cool cheek now, patting it firmly. He was close enough to see the bags under his eyes more clearly now. 

“Hey, hey this is no time to sleep. Not in the lab. No sleeping when there is science to be done, Underoos.”

There was a small moan before Peter’s eyes began to form into slits. “Mr-Mr Stark?”

“The one and only.”

Peter tried to get up, but a swift rush of dizziness seemed to pull him back down. Tony placed a hand on his chest. 

“Just sit tight there, Spiderling. Did you bang your head when you fell?”

“I, uh, yeah…maybe a little.”

That would mean a very strong yes from the kid who liked to hide injuries. Tony felt around his head finding a decent sized bump on the side of his skull that the kid winced at him touching.

“Let’s get you to Medbay.”

“No sir, I’m fine.”

Tony raised an eyebrow at him, and the kid gave him an almost pout. He hated the Medbay - well, more the needles that usually accompanied a visit.

“Fine, let’s get you on the couch but I reserve the right to change my mind. My house, my rules. FRI, scan him.”

Peter was unsteady under his arms as Tony guided him to the battered couch. He was quickly back with a bottle of water and an ice pack. He handed it to Peter who winced as he touched it to the sore spot on his head. Tony undid the lid and handed it to him. 

“Drink up, kid.”

“You don’t have to open it for me. I literally have super strength,” Peter grumbled and that was a sign that he was at least on his way to feeling better. Tony made a space on the cluttered coffee table and sat down so he was in front of Peter.

“So, what happened? Are you sick?” Tony’s hand twitched as he stopped himself pressing his hand to the kid’s temple. They were getting closer, but that seemed to step into the realms of parental and that wasn’t a role he should ever be filling for this kid.

“I…uh…I don’t think I can even get sick anymore.”

Ah yes, the weird Spidery physiology. He wished Bruce was around to do some detailed testing on him – he’d have a field day. 

“FRI, what were the results on our young Buck here?” 

“Heart rate, blood pressure and temperature are all within Mr Parker’s normal ranges. However, his blood sugar is dangerously low, and he is showing signs of mild dehydration.”

Well, that didn’t sound good. Peter stared intently at the water bottle.

“When was the last time you ate?”

Peter squinted as if in thought and – yeah, no, that was not a good sign at all. The kid practically catalogued everything he ate and mentioned it. _“Oh Mr Stark_ _, I had this amazing sandwich yesterday from Delmar’s. Next time you come to Queens I’ll take you there._ _“Mr Stark, these donuts I had from that new little place were amazing. I’ll bring you some.”_ Right now, however, Peter looked blank.

“I…maybe had a banana this morning.”

Tony’s jaw tightened. “And yesterday?”

The kid’s cheeks had started to redden like he knew where this was going and how Tony was going to react. “I had some bad pizza at school…and then I honestly don’t remember.”

“Peter, your metabolism needs probably four times as much as someone your age. You can’t skip meals. Or – well, we just got our evidence of what happens.” 

Peter nodded but didn’t make eye contact. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to pass out on you.”

“What if you’d been swinging and it had happened, huh? Then I’d be scrapping squished spider off the floor.” 

That image didn’t even seem to raise a smile in the kid; he just looked exhausted. 

Tony reached into his pocket, he knew how hard the kid’s Aunt worked to make ends meet and as much as she was now ‘on board’ with the whole Spider-man schtick, it didn’t mean she suddenly had enough money to feed a growing Spider-kid, and there was no way Peter would be telling her he needed more. “Look, if money is tight…”

A clammy hand stopped his wallet opening before pulling away just as quickly. “Oh god, no Mr Stark. I mean, it _is_ , but we have plenty of food, I promise. I just haven’t been hungry lately, I guess? I dunno. I’m sure it will pass.”

Peter gave him a false smile – man, he was going to have to work on his delivery if he was going to make it in business. He couldn’t head up R&D on his science skills alone. Still, that part of grooming him for SI would have to wait.

Tony drew his hand away, pushing the wallet back in his pocket. If he wouldn’t take the money, he was sure as hell going to make sure he ate whilst he was here.

“Can you walk?”

The kid frowned at him. “Yeah, I think so.”

“Right, come on, let’s get some food.”

“I can just eat at home Mr Stark; you don’t need to feed me.”

Tony rolled his eyes. The kid protested every time Tony ordered in when they were working in the lab. He was a billionaire and it got very old.

“FRI, what do we have to offer?”

“There is a tray of leftover lasagne in the communal fridge.”

“See: leftovers. That is the food equivalent of recycling, even you can’t refuse that.”

As much as he didn’t want to run into the Rogues – he must stop calling them that- the food was left over from their awkward, mandatory team dinner yesterday and was in the Compound kitchen. It would be quicker than ordering in and he knew how good it was. Damn Captain America and his cooking skills.

Peter made sounds of protest all the way to the elevator, only stopping when Tony gave him a loud shush.

Peter’s legs wobbled again as they walked out into the living space and Tony instinctively put an arm around his waist.

“I’m ok, Mr Stark.”

“I refuse to let you faceplant any more of my floors, Parker.”

Tony ushered him up and onto a stool at the kitchen island before swapping out his icepack for a new one. The kid winced but said a hushed ‘ _thanks._ ’

Tony was deep in the fridge when he heard people approaching. 

“Tony,” Steve’s voice coming from the doorway was full of delighted surprise, “are you joining us for dinner?”

Tony closed the door of the fridge as Steve and Sam fully came into the room. Barnes hovered by the door, but Tony just ignored him.

“Kid passed out so I’m just upping his blood sugar.”

Both Steve and Sam’s eyes darted across the room to where Peter was hunched on the counter, his face rapidly reddening.

“Um, hey…hey, Captain Rogers, Mr Wilson, Sergeant Barnes.” Peter waved his icepack at them. The kid still stumbled over his words in front of them despite meeting them as Tony’s intern a few times in the month they’d been back. Peter had been so tongue tied when he first met them all, he had FRIDAY set it to music and sent it to him. It had been awkwardly adorable, even his cold, dead heart could admit that. 

Later, when Tony had stopped laughing at him, he’d asked Peter why he’d gotten so starstruck when he had literally met them before or well, fought against them, but that is just semantics, right? He’d fumbled his words at first but then he’d clearly said, _“Yes but now I’m Peter Parker, not Spider-man.’_ Like he was two completely separate people with different personalities. It had worried him a little – enough that he’d spent an evening Googling personality disorders. Then he figured that Spider-man’s confidence probably came from the anonymity of the mask. Tony had to remind himself that Peter, as brilliant as he was, both in the lab and out there fighting, was still just an anxious teenager. Hopefully as he matured, he’d bring parts of Spider-man into his day-to-day life.

Both Steve and Sam’s faces crumpled at the sight of the ice pack. Tony even caught Barnes’ usually immovable visage flicker slightly as he moved to put a lump of lasagne into the microwave.

Who knew a few video game tournaments would have endeared the kid to these grown men? Tony had denied it to Rhodey when he’d brought it up but, yes, he had 100% been using Peter as a buffer in his interactions with the team. When it became clear that Peter had a handle on keeping his secret around them, he’d conveniently bring Peter along whenever he had to do something with the team. He had an inkling that cooler heads would prevail if Peter was around, and nobody had tried to beat anyone else to death, so surely that meant it was a sound strategy.

“You hurt, short stack?” Sam went over to Peter and started feeling around his head before Peter could even protest, finding the singular lump and eliciting another wince from the teenager. Sam pressed the ice pack back onto it.

“I’m honestly fine; just came out of nowhere.”

The microwave beeped and Tony took the sizzling plate out placed it in front of the kid.

“Passing out is a direct consequence of barely eating for two days. Do I really need to educate you on causal links?”

Steve and Sam’s brows furrowed further, and the kid had the audacity to shoot him a brief, dark look. Tony didn’t care – if shaming him in front of his idols would get him to be more aware of his metabolic needs, then he’d do it every time.

Sam sat down across from Peter who was staring at the plate of food like it was a mountain to cross.

“Have you not been feeling well?”

Peter shrugged. “Just not hungry.”

“Hmmm, you should keep an eye on that, son,” Steve spoke, his arms crossed and the furrow still deep in his brow. “Maybe see a Doctor?”

“I’m honestly fine and my Aunt is a nurse, she pokes me plenty.”

Steve looked like he was going to follow up with another question when Barnes interrupted, seemingly having crossed the room in his creepy spy way without Tony noticing. 

“Stop mother-henning the kid, Stevie. He’s too busy answering your questions, he can’t even eat.”

Peter shot Barnes a grateful look while Steve rolled his eyes at him.

“Want me to show you that card game I mentioned the other day?” Barnes said softly.

Peter smiled and nodded as Barnes sat down next to him and produced a pack of cards. Tony’s whole body wanted to move Peter away, away, away from the man; unbidden images flicked into his mind. He turned his back on the sight, choosing to fiddle with the coffee machine instead whilst he schooled his thoughts. _It wasn’t him; it was the Winter Soldier. It wasn’t him; it was the Winter Soldier._

Steve came up to him then, leaning against the counter as Tony made his coffee. He was further away than he would normally have stood before it all went down but Tony was glad of it. Steve too close was still enough to send a shiver down his spine.

“I wanted to talk to you more about setting up some team training sessions.”

“You’re still the leader Spangles, you do what you want.” Tony turned around, settling back against the counter as he sipped the coffee, watching a small smile tug at Peter’s lips as he ate and, hopefully, beat Barnes at cards.

“Well, when I try to organise a time for you with FRIDAY, she says you have no free time until 2022.”

Tony managed to keep his snort to himself.

“You don’t need me at team training. Just a consultant, remember?” 

“That’s not true Tony.” Steve’s frown-y face was strong today.

“Well, I’m a busy man. What can I say?” Tony kept his eye on the kid, eating slowly but finishing what Tony had put in front of him.

“Tony…”

“Sorry Steve-o, got to get my intern home now. Finish that hand kid, then it’s time to go home.”

Peter’s face, now starting to look less pale, turned to him with a wide frown. “But it’s still early, Mr Stark.”

Tony stalked closer, putting his cup down on the island. “Yeah, sorry, kids who sleep on the job, don’t get to stay.”

“But Mr Stark, I feel better now,” Peter protested.

“It’s basic lab safety, kid. If I don’t follow that and you get hurt, insurance would be the least of my problems because Pepper and Aunt Hottie would have my balls in a vice.” Tony tapped the counter with a finger as the kid frowned so hard that he was giving Steve a run for his money. “Happy will take you home now.”

Peter’s shoulders slumped but didn’t protest further.

“Will your Aunt be home? You shouldn’t be alone in case you pass out again,” Sam asked.

That was a good point. Tony hadn’t thought about that. He should probably give her a heads up. He slipped his phone out of his pocket.

“Don’t tell her!” Peter’s hand shot out and covered his phone and now it was Tony’s turn to frown. 

“Kid…”

“She’ll freak out. And I’m fine now.” Peter looked panicked. “She’s home. I’ll just relax and eat some more. Just don’t tell her, please.”

God, since when did the kid’s puppy dog eyes work on him. He was losing his edge.

“Fine, go on, get your stuff and get going. Happy’s waiting.”

“Thanks Mr Stark, see you in a few days.” Peter looked relieved as he slid out of the chair. He went to pick up the plate, but Sam whipped it away with a small shake of his head. “Thanks. Bye Mr Wilson, Mr Barnes, Mr Rogers.”

The three men replied in kind as Peter ran off in the direction of the lab and Tony turned back to the coffee maker, putting his cup back underneath the filter for a refill.

“He’s a good kid.” Barnes’ voice reached him. “Got no poker face though.”

Tony couldn’t help but smirk at that.

“He’s like a baby deer,” Steve commented.

“Bambi,” both Tony and Sam said at the same time, sharing a wry smile.

“Hey, we know that one!” Steve looked far too happy to finally get a reference.

“Cartoon, right?” Barnes’ face pulled into a rare, genuine smile. “We saw it at the Majestic in ’42 before I got shipped out.”

Steve nodded enthusiastically with that same glint of hope in his eye whenever Barnes seemed to remember their shared history without being told.

Wasn’t it enough that he’d reimagined the BARF technology to help Barnes with his memories, but now he had to listen to them too? No thanks. 

Tony grabbed his coffee cup as soon as it was done and headed to the door.

“Tony,” Steve’s voice called out, “about the training?”

Tony didn’t bother to turn around.

“Not interested, Rogers.”

—-

Tony managed to avoid Rogers again until a few days later.

“Boss, Captain Rogers is requesting access to the workshop.”

“No thanks, tell him I’m busy.”

There was a pause of a few moments. 

“Captain Rogers is quite insistent that he speak with you.”

“Oh, for God’s sake, fine.”

Tony continued tapping out the code he was working on for the next mark. He didn’t bother to look up as he heard footsteps approaching. 

“What is it, Rogers? I’m busy. I’ve got work to do and an intern to supervise.” 

Partly true; Peter was working on a project around the corner, and they had barely said two words to each other today. That wasn’t exactly unusual, he was deep into a project and Peter was happy to get on with his own stuff when he got like this. That was another reason he liked the kid, he understood that about him and didn’t try to force him to stop or interrupt him. He was pretty good at picking up his moods.

Unlike the Captain here.

“You didn’t attend the debrief.”

“What was there to say? It was a washout.” 

It had been an op to take down a suspected Hydra base but when they got there it was empty. He’d downloaded the files he could get from the mainframe, but it had been well destroyed before they’d got there.

The man stepped closer to him now, close enough that he could smell the aftershave Rogers favoured. Surprisingly modern. Tony wheeled away slightly under the pretence of reaching for something.

“And the files?”

Tony didn’t respond and just carried on what he was doing.

“Tony!”

Tony looked up to see an exasperated look on Steve’s face that was too close to anger for his liking. He pushed his chair back and stood up, moving away from Steve towards the other side of the lab.

“What little we found is heavily encrypted and FRI is working on decoding them. So, like I said, there is nothing to tell.”

Steve was still following him.

“You can’t keep doing this Tony - avoiding the team. It’s not right.”

Were they even a team anymore? Banner and Thor were who knows where. Wanda and Vision were still on their extended vacation. Clint supposedly ‘retired’. It was an empty shell left – just the stragglers who hadn’t admitted defeat. That aside, Rogers was not in a moral position to be lecturing him on what was right and wrong.

“You’ve got no authority over me, Rogers, so save me your righteous indignation,” Tony snapped. “You want me off the roster, that’s fine with me. I’ve been telling Fury that was the way it would go down.”

Tony kept moving away from him, gripping his left wrist tightly as his heart thundered in his chest.

“You know that is not what I want, what any of us want. How can I prove to you that you can trust me if you never let me show you?”

The conversation had taken a sharp turn to the personal and that was something Tony deeply wanted to avoid.

“I don’t think you want to know about my tru—“

“—Shhh.”

Tony jerked back as Steve interrupted him – shushed him, no less —and then followed up with a finger to his lips.

“Did you just shush me, Rogers?”

Steve tipped his head and was looking behind Tony. He followed it up with a pointed finger.

Tony turned on his heel to see Peter asleep, head on his desk. Closer inspection showed a thin trail of drool hanging from his mouth. God, teenagers were gross.

Tony hesitated. Should he wake him? Why was he crashed out at 6pm on a Wednesday?

“Is he sick still?” Tony hadn’t noticed that Steve had come to stand right beside him, staring at Peter just the same as him.

“He didn’t say anything,” Tony murmured. But then again, Tony hadn’t said much to him at all today. He must be pretty beat to fall asleep so early in the day. He’d have suspected a late patrol, but he hadn’t had a breaking curfew report from Karen.

“His back won’t thank him, sleeping like that. I’ll move him to the couch.” Steve stepped towards him and Tony felt a flash of protectiveness.

“I’ve got it covered Steve, go about your business.” Tony strode forward and eased a hand under Peter’s legs and shoulders and picked him up. Sweet Jesus, he was heavier than he looked. The scrawny outer view hiding the fact that, underneath his clothes, he was packed with muscle.

He fixed his grip on the somehow still sleeping Spiderling, but his step faltered a second and Steve launched himself forward.

“I don’t need your help,” Tony whisper-shouted at him, moving the boy away from Steve’s hands.

“It’s easier for me. Don’t be a ch—”

Steve stopped and Tony looked at him to see him staring down at Peter’s stomach. Tony looked then too – today’s stupid science pun t-shirt had ridden up when he’d picked him up – his stomach covered in dark bruises.

Steve looked at him in alarm. Tony clenched his jaw as he manoeuvred Peter to the old couch, laying him down gently. The kid didn’t stir, just curled up to face the back of the couch, his shirt riding up higher to show that the bruises extended around to his side and back.

Tony didn’t need to look at Steve to know what his expression would be. The bruises were pretty bad. When had he gotten those? Karen hadn’t alerted him to any bad Spiderling situations.

“FRIDAY, scan for any breaks,” Tony said quietly. He knew how cold the kid got so he picked up a blanket off the back of the couch and slung it over him.

He walked back over to the other side of the lab with Steve on his heels again. 

FRIDAY broke the short silence. “No fractures detected. All vitals are normal. Blood sugar is to the low end of normal, but not dangerously so.”

Tony let out a breath. No broken ribs. That was something at least.

“Someone did a number on him.” Steve’s brows were so close together they were practically a monobrow at this point.

_Sure Steve, he is a vigilante, it is kind of an occupational hazard._ Nope, couldn’t say that.

Tony pinched the bridge of his nose. “Yeah, I can see that.”

“Has he indicated he’s in any trouble? Bullies at school? What’s his home life like? Could someone there be hurting him?”

Tony wanted to retort that the kid did nothing but find trouble but that would only raise suspicions.

“Home life is good – just him and the Aunt. Bullies – maybe…”

Steve stiffened. “We should wake him up and have a talk with him.”

Now it was Tony’s turn to stiffen. “ _We_ won’t be doing anything. I’ll deal with it.” Tony turned and went back to his console. “So, if you would get out of here…”

“Tony, this is serious.” Steve’s voice was full of exasperation. “He’s just a kid.”

Just a kid that swung around New York saving people and putting himself in harm’s way at the same time.  
  


“Don’t you think I know that?” Tony snapped, guilt at taking the kid to Germany rearing its head once again. Steve was momentarily quieted. That wouldn’t last. “Look, he doesn’t know you that well. He’s my intern, I’ll talk to him. OK?”

Steve relaxed a little. “OK, Tony. You’ll let me know if I can do anything to help?”

Tony nodded and Steve returned a short one before he turned to leave.

Tony waited until he heard the door close shut before he spoke up. 

“FRIDAY, pull up the data on when the Spider suit was last taken out for a spin.”

Tony could instantly see that Peter had been out in the suit for the last ten nights running including the night after Tony had sent him home after he passed out.

“Idiot,” he mumbled to himself.

Tony wasn’t impressed. Peter was meant to have some nights off so that he didn’t exhaust himself and so that he kept up with his schoolwork and social life. Looked like he was ignoring May’s rules on that. Tony didn’t want to be the tattle tale, but May was right on this. He was too young to make his entire life about Spider-man. As someone who grew up in the spotlight, he knew that normality was nothing to be scoffed at.

“Be a sweetheart and pull up the Baby Monitor footage starting from most recent use, please FRI.”

Tony spent some time fast forwarding through – there was a lot of what he thought of as community outreach work – helping people with groceries, elderly people crossing the road etc. Then as the nights darkened there were more stopping robberies, intervening to stop a car crash, stopping some car thefts. It wasn’t the first time he had watched Peter’s reel. If anything, he probably did it more than one would say was healthy. Sue him, he worried about the kid.

“Play from here.” The picture slowed down and showed Peter in a fight with three guys who had been robbing a liquor store. They all brandished pipes and he watched as they got closer to Peter.

The web shooters must have jammed – he didn’t normally need to get that close to anyone. He’d take a look at the mechanism again – make sure it was more efficient.

The guys started going for him. They missed a few times before one of them connected, swinging a pipe right into Peter’s side, sending him crumpling to the floor. Tony winced in sympathy as another guy landed another blow into his stomach. At least he knew where the injuries came from now, not that he was going to be able to tell Steve that.

Tony watched as Spider-Man suddenly reached up and webbed up the three guys in quick succession. Tony sat up in his seat like his eyes had deceived him. 

“FRIDAY, were the web shooters temporarily jammed?”

“No Boss, they were fully functional all evening.”

There was nothing wrong with the web shooters. Why the hell didn’t he just web them up at the start?

He didn’t have much more time to think on that when he heard the sound of feet shuffling in this direction. Peter appeared around the corner, stifling a yawn as he came closer, his usually messy hair even more of a nest now. Peter seemed to realise and started dragging his fingers in a futile attempt to tame it.

“Sleeping Beauty,” Tony said, noticing the kid’s almost instant blush.

“Sorry about that, Mr Stark. I guess those calculations weren’t as stimulating as I thought.” He cracked an easy smile in his direction, but Tony felt the one he returned was tight. “So, what do you want me to work on now?”

Tony gestured to a seat nearby. “You and I need to have a chat first, Underoos.”

Peter took the seat, wheeling himself closer. “Yeah? What about?”

“About the fact that your stomach and back look like a Jackson Pollock painting.”

Peter’s eyebrows jumped and there was a flash of something in his eyes.

“Oh yeah, and Cap was here when I was moving you, so he saw it too.”

That got more of Peter’s attention and he sat more upright in the chair.

“What did you tell him? You didn’t tell him about Spider-man, right?”

Tony rolled his eyes. This was a debate they’d had a few times. Tony thinking they should just come clean, but Peter not wanting to - his argument being that if Tony didn’t trust them, then he shouldn’t either. How could he argue against that?

“Of course I didn’t. No, Cap is worried you are being abused at home or bullied.”

“Oh, good,” Peter breathed out. Tony raised an eyebrow and Peter added on. “You know what I mean. So, what should we tell him? Bully at school probably best.”

“You want to add another lie to your roster? You can barely keep that one straight. You’re a terrible liar.”

“Well, if you tell him it’s a bully and I’m sensitive about it, then he probably won’t bring it up to me. So, I won’t have to lie to his face,” Peter said, sitting back like it was settled. “Even if he did ask me, I wouldn’t even have to lie about that part.”

Tony’s head tilted. “That Flash kid still giving you trouble?”

“Not like this,” Peter gestured to his body, “just words.”

Tony’s stomach clenched a little. Peter shouldn’t have to be dealing with little pricks at school all day. Maybe he’d have a word with May, see if maybe she’d call the school.

“No interventions needed Mr Stark,” Peter said, like he could read his mind. “It’s harmless.”

Tony huffed out a breath that showed how much he didn’t believe that statement. He’d have to circle back because there were bigger fish to fry.

“So, those bruises are pretty bad. Why didn’t Karen inform me? Have you been hacking my suit again?” Tony pointed a screwdriver in Peter’s direction. 

“No, sir, I haven’t. I promise. Check the code if you don’t believe me. I just asked her not to say anything. Nothing was broken so…” Peter shrugged, like three pipes to the torso was nothing more than a paper cut.

“You think I want you to talk loopholes around Karen? She is there to protect you.”

Peter slumped lower in the chair, crossing his arms. 

“And what about this?” Tony flicked his finger and the screen showing Peter’s fight was now facing him.

“What about it?”

“Why did you let them get so close to you?”

“I dunno, maybe I was distracted. It was a busy night.”

On the usual Spidey scale, it really hadn’t been. Why was the kid throwing all these excuses at him?

“They got close enough to hit you. Why didn’t you just web them up? You suddenly got a death wish or something?”

“No, they just jammed.”

Oh, so the kid was straight up lying now? To him?

Tony unclenched his jaw as he sat forward, staring the kid down, before talking deliberately.

“No, they didn’t.”

Tony wasn’t expecting the kid’s sudden movement and he snapped back himself as Peter was on his feet and stomping over to his bag.

“I don’t know why you are on my case about it, I messed up. So what? That really shouldn’t come as a surprise to you anymore.” Peter’s voice was more bitter than he’d ever heard it and he was almost at the door before Tony gathered his wits enough to follow after him.

“Peter!”

The elevator doors opened, and Steve stepped out before he was basically almost pushed past by Peter in his haste to get in.

“Oh…son, are you-?”

The doors closed, cutting Steve off, just as Tony got there, leaving him catching his breath and Steve with a sad, confused look on his face.

“So, the talk went well?” Steve said after a beat, looking at him with yet another frown.

“Leave the sarcasm to me, Grandpa.” Tony scowled as he turned to head back to the lab and realised Steve’s long enhanced legs were easily keeping up with him.

“What did he say?” Steve asked. “Did he tell you who hurt him?”

“I figured it out. He wasn’t happy about that.” Tony felt like he'd been sucker punched and was left with a strong feeling that he’d missed something.

“Maybe he’d respond to someone impartial. You two are very close, he might worry you’d think less of him,” Steve suggested.

Tony pulled up short. “We’re not that close. He’s just my intern.”

Steve gave him an indulgent smile. “That kid worships you. And…”

“And what Rogers?”

“It’s not a weakness to say that you care about someone else.”

“Thanks Dr Phil, I’m more than aware of that. Now if you are done, I’ve got work to do.”

“What about Peter?”

“I told you I would deal with it and I will.”

Tony let the door of the lab swing shut behind him; the room seeming suddenly a lot quieter. That made no sense, the kid was just in here sleeping. It was barely any different.

What _was_ different was the way the kid had snapped at him. That was pretty out of character. A heavy weight settled in his stomach. 

Tony cursed himself. This was what happened when you spent a lot of time around a teenager. The hormones were bound to come out at some point and maybe today was Peter’s day. Tony went back to his project. No doubt he’d have a series of apology texts from the kid later.

\---

There was no apology text. Not that day. Not the next.

Tony was more put out than he wanted to admit to himself. He almost sent a message himself, but he deleted it. Let the kid finish his tantrum. What did he care, right?

When he was feeling more generous, he considered Peter was the kind of person who probably wanted to apologise in person. He would be over that night for the internship, maybe he was waiting for that.

Tony had just finished a very irritatingly long meeting with Ross who was still cheesed off that they had managed to get the Rogues pardoned by going behind his back. Now he was harping on about using the Avengers to rein in local vigilantes and getting them to sign some US version of the Accords. He’d managed to keep his cool when Ross had mentioned Spider-man. Tony didn’t want to get tangled up in all that and he certainly didn’t want Peter to be either. He’d learnt his lesson. 

“Boss, Happy is on the line.”

Tony stretched his back out from where he’d been hunched over a suit.

“Put him through.”

“Is this a joke?” Happy’s pissed off voice came through.

“No idea what you are talking about, Hap,” Tony said with a sigh as he wiped grease off his fingers.

“I’m at the school and the kid is a no show.”

Tony’s gut tightened. “What?”

“No show, not answering his phone. Normally it’s me who can’t shake him.”

“Hold up, I’ll try him. FRI, called Peter Parker’s phone.”

“What makes you think he will answer to you but not me?”

“Because I am Tony Stark.” 

He heard Happy grunt as the call kept ringing through until Peter’s voicemail message came through.

“Try it again, FRI.”

Tony stalked over to the washbasin, washing the oil off as he waited, surprised when he again heard the voicemail come through.

“Guess you aren’t as much of a pull as you think you are.” Happy was enjoying this too much.

Tony’s phone beeped and he pulled it out to see a message from Peter.

**_The Kid:_** _Sorry but I can’t make it today._

Tony’s hand clenched around the plastic casing.

“He’s not coming. Just come back here, Hap.”

He barely heard Happy’s rant as the phone cut out past the growing heat in his stomach. Now the kid was just blowing them off last minute, not even calling to let them know that he wasn’t coming? It was rude. Fucking rude.

“FRI, call again and push it through.”

The phone rang and he heard the sound of rustling on the other end.

“Parker. You don’t get to dodge my calls, you get that?”

There was no response, but Tony could hear him breathing. He carried on.

“You left Happy standing outside your school waiting for you, like it’s ok for you to waste his time. It’s not. If that’s not bad enough, you just not turning up for the internship, that’s not on. I put aside time to spend with you and let me tell you kid, my time is worth a hell of a lot.”

There was still silence. Infuriating silence. “You got nothing to say?”

“I…no sir.” 

The lack of apology again riled Tony up even more.

“Maybe this was all a mistake, huh? Everyone said I was crazy to have a high school intern and if you can’t even be responsible enough to get here, then maybe they were right. Maybe we should just call the whole internship off?”

Tony waited for Peter’s stumbled apology.

When he did speak, Peter’s voice was quiet but clear. “Ok, I understand. Thank you for the opportunity, Mr Stark. I’ll return my badge and everything tomorrow.”

The line went dead, and Tony froze. What?! The kid had just dismissed him like the internship meant nothing and then hung up on him. On _him_!

He stood there with his mouth hung open for a full minute before he regained his composure. What was going on with that kid? 

His phone rang again in his pocket - _Ross_. Shit. He didn’t have time to figure out whatever teenage bullshit the kid was pulling right now, but at least he had someone he could re-direct his anger onto. He inhaled and pressed the green button.


	2. Chapter 2

The next day was a busy one anyway. It wasn't like he needed the kid to keep his day full. He had enough shit to worry about - including three different meetings that he had to attend. Pepper was at the final meeting and the surprise on her face was infuriating - like it was unusual that Tony took his responsibilities with the company seriously or something. He’d always cared about his company. He was head of R&D for fuck's sake. He didn't have time to wait around for an intern to show up. An intern who didn't even have the courtesy to call after months of—

Tony shook his head. Starkpads. That's what he was thinking about. Pepper's sideway glances like he was preoccupied with something else were completely uncalled for.

Tony stalked back to his workshop after the last meeting. He’d mentioned to Sam that he had a good bottle of scotch and, in the name of team unity - and his own desire to take the edge off - today’s team dinner seemed as good a time as any to share it. It wasn’t like there was a child he had to supervise today, anyway.

He saw the paper bag as soon as he came into the room.

“FRI, what is this?”

“Mr Parker left it for you.” Huh? A peace offering maybe. He’d bet ten bucks it was those donuts Peter had been harping on about.

“Is he still in the building?”

“No Boss, he left straight after he dropped it off. You were in a meeting at the time, and he asked me not to disturb you.”

Tony opened it up and stopped. There were no bread-related items inside – only a familiar flash of red and blue. He immediately turned the bag upside down, emptying the contents out.

The spider suit came out first followed by Peter’s ID badge, which had a post it stuck on it. _‘Thanks for everything’._ Tony ran his fingers over the photo on it – Peter wearing a nervous smile on his face. He tapped the badge against his hand. Even if he was ditching the internship – which again, for the record, made no sense - why the hell had he left the suit?

Tony replayed their last few interactions in his head for the hundredth time. The kid got all defensive after he called him out for lying about the web shooters. Was he this upset that Tony had called him on his bullshit? Upset enough to jack it all in? It didn’t make sense. It was hardly what he’d call an argument – he hadn’t even raised his voice. Hell, they’d had more heated discussions over whether pineapple on pizza was acceptable.

“Boss, the team has assembled for dinner,” FRIDAY informed him.

Tony ran a hand over his mouth taking another look at the items in front of him. “Screw it,” he muttered to himself. He shoved the pass in his pocket, grabbed the bottle of alcohol and made his way upstairs.

The clash of voices hit his ears – different conversations going on - as he came out of the elevator. The table was set, and someone had ordered in Thai.

“Tony!” Steve called cheerfully in a way that grated on him. “Come and get it while it’s hot. Yours is over here.”

Steve had put Tony’s meal on the plate next to his. Another of his oh-so subtle strategies to get Tony talking to him again. He didn’t even have the energy to protest and went to sit down. Nat and Bucky were at the other end of the table conducting a discussion in Russian that seemed to be about Sam’s upcoming birthday.

Tony pushed out the bottle of scotch to Sam who let out a whistle as he took it and examined the label.

“Think it will go with Thai food?” Tony asked.

Sam quirked an eyebrow. “There is only one way to find out. Shall I do the honours?”

“Please do.” Tony unwrapped his container and spooned some food out onto his plate.

“Where is short stack? I got him a Pad Thai,” Sam asked, as he came back with some glasses.

“Not coming.” Well, that was the short answer, and the only one he felt like giving right now.

Sam’s face drooped a little. No doubt they’d gotten used to his little shadow. Looked like they were going to have to put up with him as the main attraction from now on. Tony tried not to think about it. The kid had made his decision. It wasn’t on him to talk him out of it.

“So, Cap, any news from SHIELD on our next target?”

Steve looked happy Tony was taking the lead in talking to him and jumped straight in.

The evening went quickly, the scotch helping him loosen up considerably and even having a few laughs. Sam was a good buffer in these things, guiding conversations into neutral areas and before he knew it Tony had spent a few hours in their company without hating it, even conversations where Bucky was chipping in.

They’d filled the dishwasher with most of the dirty plates and there was just one plate left on the table; Peter’s still wrapped food on top. 

“I’ll put it in the fridge for him, he can have it tomorrow,” Barnes said, reaching for the container.

“Don’t bother. He won’t be coming again.”

“What?” Sam questioned.

Tony dug into his jacket pocket and threw Peter’s ID badge unceremoniously onto the table. “He up and quit on me.”

“Why would he do that?” Sam frowned. “He obviously loves coming here.”

Tony shrugged. “Fucked if I know.”

Steve leant forward with a serious expression on his face. “You confront him about bruises on him and then he quits? Don’t you think that is a bit of a coincidence?” 

No one else looked like this was new information to them. 

“You told everyone about that? Nice one Rogers, I’m sure the kid will love to have his personal business shopped all over the place. Be sure to ring down and make sure Joe at the front desk has the 411.”

“Tony, what did he say about it? If he’s being abused, you have a duty to report it.” Sam ignored his sarcasm and was super serious now.

God, this was excruciating. It wasn’t like he could tell them the full details. Lying to them felt wrong but regardless of how pissed he was at the kid; it still wasn’t his secret to tell.

“He said it was just some bully at school and that his Aunt was sorting it out.”

“Did you follow up with her?” Steve asked.

Tony grimaced. He probably should call May, though he suspected she’d be more than happy with him dropping the internship and Spider-Man activities. She might have some insight as to why.

“No, but I will. He was already pissed at me for prying.”

That seemed to alleviate Sam and Steve’s concern a little.

“He’s been off the last week or so,” Barnes said quietly, “not so talkative.”

Peter had been off? Had Tony noticed? Maybe not. 

“It’s hard to tell. Aren’t all teenagers moody?”

“He’s not like other teenagers though, is he?” Natasha added in, the ice in her glass tinkling as she took a drink of her scotch.

Tony stilled for a moment, his eyes darting to Natasha’s. Was this her way of saying that she knew? He calmed seeing her usual level expression.

“Yeah,” Sam followed up, “he’s very mature for his age.”

Tony raised his eyebrow. “Didn’t you two have a competition last weekend to see who could eat the most pop tarts?”

Sam shrugged. He’d lost, obviously, but it was hardly a fair fight against a teenage super powered appetite – not that Sam knew that.

“He seems like an ‘old head on young shoulders’,” Steve added.

Steve wasn’t wrong. The kid could goof off with the best of them but ultimately, he was quite a serious soul. And there was nothing he took more seriously than being Spider-man. So why leave the suit that would help him do that the most?

The phone in his pocket rang then. “Excuse me.” 

Tony stepped away from the group as he frowned at the caller ID. _May Parker_. Looked like he was having this conversation now.

“May, how are you?”

There was a huff before the voice on the other end responded.

“Well, I’ve been better.” 

She said it like he should know that, and her voice sounded scratchy, like she’d been smoking fifty cigarettes today or crying. “To be honest Tony, I don’t really appreciate you keeping him out so late. He said you had an important project to finish, and I allowed it because I figured maybe it’s his way to cope, you know? But we were meant to spend the evening together, I thought he would come back for that.”

Peter was lying to May now as well?

“May, he’s not here.”

“He’s…not?”

“No, he never showed up. Just sent a text saying he couldn’t make it.” Tony didn’t say anything about Peter quitting everything. He was honestly still hoping it was a temporary situation.

May let out a shaky breath. “Oh no. That’s…that’s not good.”

“Have you tried Ned and MJ?”

“Of course I’ve tried his friends.” May’s voice was tight with worry. “They haven’t seen him since school.” 

“I’m sure he’ll turn up. He’s probably off at a party or something. It’s just what teenagers do, right?”

There was an unmistakable silence.

“He didn’t tell you, did he?” May’s voice cracked. “I felt for sure he would with how close you two have gotten.”

Something dropped in Tony’s stomach. “Tell me what?”

“Today; it’s Ben’s anniversary.”

_Ben._ The Uncle. The dead uncle.

“I’m so sorry May, I didn’t know.” Should he have? He was meant to be Peter’s mentor. He should know when big things were happening in his life.

“Peter has never been good with his emotions. He just bottles them up. He barely spoke for an entire month after Ben was killed.” May took in a shuddered breath. “And this last week was almost like that, like he was withdrawing back into himself. Nightmares, not eating, but he won’t talk about it. Not to me anyway.”

May’s words paint a fuller, gloomier picture for him of his interactions with Peter over the last week or two. The not eating, the falling asleep, the change in attitude. It all looked different with this filter held up to it.

“I’ll go and see if he went to the cemetery after all.”

“May, it’s late and dark out.” He didn’t want her out on the streets at this hour. If something happened to her when she was looking for Peter, the kid would never forgive himself. “I’ll take the suit and see if he’s there. You stay home in case he comes back, OK?”

“O…OK.” May’s voice sounded shakier. Tony was aware that this day must be toughest for her.

“I’m going to send Happy over to keep you company.”

“You don’t have to do that…”

“I don’t think you should be alone right now. He can just wait out in the car if not.”

May cleared her throat. “Actually, company would probably stop me going out of my mind. Yes, ok. Thank you, Tony. I really appreciate it.” 

Tony hung up the phone and took a breath, tapping the phone to his head.

“Is everything ok, Tony?” 

Tony swivelled around to see Steve looking at him, eyebrows deeply furrowed.

“I have to go into the city.” 

“That was Peter’s Aunt? Is he ok?” 

Damn super hearing.

“Maybe not after I find him.” 

What was Peter thinking? He shouldn’t be worrying his Aunt, today of all days.

Steve looked like he was going to offer to help; Tony held up a hand.

“I’ve got it covered. I’m sure he’s just flexing his teenage angst muscles.”

The words felt hollow as he said them. This definitely wasn’t that. Tony was well adept at running from grief. His ways had usually seen him with some pills down his throat, alcohol in his glass and someone’s body around his. He really hoped that he wasn’t going to find an off-his-head Peter somewhere.

“Keep us posted?” Sam asked with Bucky looking serious next to him.

Tony nodded and headed out to the landing pad, exhaling as the suit closed around him.

The suit made short work of the journey from upstate – 20 minutes at this speed and he wasn’t even going anywhere near full capacity.

Tony landed in the predictably deserted cemetery. FRIDAY scanned the area until he found Ben Parker’s headstone – fresh roses sat underneath. It didn’t seem right for some reason, standing there in the suit, so he let himself out. A short Italian prayer his mother used to repeat pushed into his mind and, despite not being religious, he found himself speaking it aloud into the darkness. Not just for Ben Parker but also towards the two graves right next to his, Mary and Richard Parker. Just seeing this small piece of the world made him realise just how much Peter had lost in his short life.

“FRI, call Ned Leeds.”

The phone rang a few times before an unsure voice answered. “Uh…hello?”

“Ned, it’s Tony Stark here.”

“M…Mr Stark, sir, hi, I…”

Tony didn’t have time for the stuttering.

“Ok Mr Leeds, we can catch up on pleasantries later, right now I need to know where Peter is.”

“Oh, like I told May, I haven’t heard from him. I texted him to let him know May was looking for him.”

Tony already knew that the phone was back at the apartment.

“Come on, you’re his guy in the chair, right? He tell you what he is up to tonight?”

“He, um, hasn’t been talkative, I guess because of Ben. He just said he was going to the cemetery and then dinner at home with May to watch Ben’s favourite movie.” Ned’s voice trembled. “He’s not been himself at all lately.”

“No, he hasn’t,” Tony replied quietly, fully realising how true that statement was for the first time.

“You can track his suit though, right?” Ned’s voice was full of optimism. You’ll find him?”

“He’s not in the suit.”

“Oh.”

“Are you holding out on me Ned?”

“No…no sir.”

Tony wasn’t convinced.

“Did he tell you that he quit the internship? And that he returned his Spider suit?”

“He did what?!” 

Tony winced as the boy’s voice went loud, echoing in the metal confines of the suit.

“W-why would he do that? He fricking loves being Spider-man!”

Tony wished he had the answer to that question.

“He told May he was with me and now he hasn’t come home. So, you can understand that given all the circumstances, we need to know where he might be?”

“Yes sir. All I know is that he mentioned he’s been working on a case that took him to Brooklyn, but he wouldn’t say what it was about.” Ned sounded even more worried now. “I promise I’d tell you if I knew anymore.”

Tony believed him. “Ok, call me back if you hear from him.”

“Yes Mr Stark, of course.”

The line cut out and Tony let out a sigh. 

“FRI, hook me up with Karen.”

“Hello Mr Stark, how can I be of assistance?”

“Hey Karen, I’m trying to find Peter. Is there anything he has been working on that I’m unaware of?”

“As well as his usual activities, Peter has been spending more time that usual accosting criminals possessing illegal firearms.”

Not this again. 

“More Chitauri weapons?”

“No sir, handguns.” Huh, not what he was expecting. Karen continued; “He has been interrogating the criminals in an attempt to find out where they got their weapons.”

“Peter? Interrogating someone?” The thought was like a puppy trying to climb down some stairs.

“Yes Mr Stark, he’s been tracking the movements of the Padrinos Motorcycle Club and gathered intel that they may be receiving a shipment of weapons sometime this week. He has been spending time by the Red Hook docks, but has so far not seen a shipment arrive.”

“Goddamn it, Peter.”

He’d told Peter to stay away from big stuff. To stick to the ground. Hell, he’d turned down the Avengers as he wanted to stay close to the ground and now he was trying to take down a fricking biker gang. These weren’t alien tech but those guys were no joke. They might be selling guns, but they also packed serious heat. 

“FRI, take me to Peter’s last scouting location.”

It didn’t take long to get there, and he landed on the rooftop of one of the warehouses that sat near the water’s edge. The area was practically deserted at this time of night.

“FRI scan for heat signatures.”

There was a pause of a few seconds.

“Boss, there are –“ FRI interrupted herself. “Boss, shots fired.”

The HUD showed the direction and Tony took off towards it. 

“There is a heat signature similar to Peter’s inside.”

“Fuck.”

Tony didn’t waste any time as he heard shots from the outside; he crashed through the roof, repulsors raised.

There were at least fifteen men on the floor in varying degrees of webbed up.

As he landed, he saw Peter web up a final guy, before falling back a few metres to the side of the room.

“FRI, are there any more lurking?”

“No Boss.”

Tony looked over the array of webbed up guys, some groaning and a few shouts of ‘let me outta this stuff.’ He ignored them.

“These guys all secured?”

“Yes Boss, they will be unable to escape the webbing and there are no more weapons on them.”

“Let me out and then engage sentry mode. Give anyone who moves too much a love tap.”

Tony walked out of the suit, happy that he didn’t have to worry about turning his back on these low-lifes. The kid still hadn’t turned to look at him from where he was leaning against a wall of storage boxes, well away from the cocooned criminals. He stepped over a discarded handgun, there were several more, as well as shotguns strewn around the warehouse and he assumed Peter had webbed them out of their hands.

“Spider-man,” Tony said curtly, trying not to let the anger seep into his tone but failing dramatically.

The teen didn’t respond, didn’t even turn; the shoulders of his old – and frankly ridiculous - blue sweatpants costume rising and falling like he was breathing heavily.

“You say you want to stay close to the ground and now you are chasing down biker gangs?!”

Tony moved forward; his hands twitching at Peter’s silence. He picked a shotgun off the floor, opening it up and emptying the shells out for good measure, just so he didn’t shake some sense into the kid instead. The sound of the cartridges clattering against the floor echoed in the room but still elicited no reaction from him.

“Then you take on fifteen guys on your own without calling for back up. Without the suit I made to protect you. You got a death wish I don’t know about?”

Peter’s hands were fiddling in front of him; he was always fussing with those goddamn web shooters.

“Your Aunt is worried sick. You should be home with her, today of all days.”

Peter’s head dropped forward. Maybe he was finally getting it.

“So why aren’t you?” Tony stalked forward. The kid still didn’t turn and it was like a red rag to a bull to him. He clamped a hand on Peter’s shoulder and spun him around. “Look at me, goddamn it.”

Peter made a choking noise at the movement and Tony’s eyes were immediately drawn to the large patch of dark red in the centre of Peter’s body. It certainly wasn’t the normal shade of the hoody and Peter’s hands were pressed into it; the usually light blue sleeves stained dark.

“Oh God, Pete.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the cliffhanger. I better go and hide.
> 
> Would love to hear all your thoughts?
> 
> I can also be found on Tumblr - http://spagbol99.tumblr.com/
> 
> Shout out to penguinmediamogul and MsHermia for their help yet again!


	3. Chapter 3

Peter collapsed into him then; the words _“Mr Stark_ ” mumbled with warm breath into his chest.

Tony almost stumbled under the weight and Peter grabbed onto his top to try to steady himself, letting out a garbled moan.

“Woah buddy, I got you, I got you,” Tony said, manoeuvring the kid towards the floor. “We’ve just got to lay you down for a minute.”

Tony managed to do so, stopping Peter from practically falling to the ground.

“That’s it. I need you to take your hands away so I can see.”

Peter didn’t move. There was no resistance when Tony peeled his bloody hand away from his stomach. Good god. More and more red was instantly seeping through the flimsy fabric. Tony’s hands shook, afraid of what he would find underneath it, almost too terrified to pull the fabric away. It might be the only thing that was staunching the bleeding.

Tony pulled a deep breath in through his teeth. He had to get a grip; needed to see what he was dealing with. Carefully, he lifted Peter’s top. A mess of flesh stared back at him; blood seemed to be pooling in two places. 

Fuck.

Peter craned his head up and Tony immediately pushed it back down.

“Uh uh, don’t look.” Tony whipped his thin sweater off. “Pete, this is going to hurt but I need to keep pressure on it.”

Tony pushed the sweater to the wound. A sound rose from Peter - something between a moan and a scream that caused Tony’s stomach to flip over.

His eyes darted around the rest of his body, searching for more wounds. There was blood staining the makeshift mask and he reached up and tugged it off. Blood was slowly trickling down the side of his face. Panicked brown eyes stared up at him.

“M…Mr Stark.” 

“Shh…it’s okay buddy, it’s going to be okay,” Tony said as he turned Peter’s head. Thank fuck, that one looked like only a bullet graze.

“You shouldn’t be here; you might get hurt. I…I’ve got it covered.”

Tony’s eyes snapped to Peter’s and he swore the kid looked annoyed at him.

“You call this covered? What the fuck, Parker?”

Peter took a shuddered breath before pushing more words out. “They’re all webbed up, aren’t they?”

This fucking kid. He bit down the urge to shout.

“Yeah, and you have two holes in your stomach. That’s not exactly what I’d call covered.” 

Peter looked like he was going to argue the point for half a second before his breath caught in his throat and he let out another moan.

Tony’s knee felt wet; he looked down to see blood pooled on the floor. Shit, he was losing too much blood. He pushed harder on Peter’s stomach and the kid groaned. They needed to move - now.

“We need to get you to a Doctor.”

Peter’s hand suddenly gripped the collar of his t-shirt and he could feel the warm liquid on his skin.

“No hospitals,” he croaked out, his eyes flashing wildly. 

It took Tony thirty seconds to realise what he meant. Stupid secret identity.

“No hospitals, ok.” They wouldn’t be able to treat him properly anyway. “I’m going to get in the suit and then I’m going to have to pick you up and fly to the Compound. It’s going to…it’s not going to be comfortable. OK?”

Peter’s pale face just nodded back at him.

The armour surrounded Tony quickly and Peter cried out as he was picked up. Tony couldn’t put pressure on the wound as they flew - he’d just have to get there as soon as possible.

Peter moaned as he powered them up into the air. The kid didn’t even attempt to hold on just let his head fall against the armoured bicep.

“Stay awake for me buddy.” Tony jostled Peter’s head gently. Peter opened his eyes, but he didn’t seem all there.

“FRIDAY, scan him.”

“Blood pressure is low and heart rate is increasing.” The numbers came up on the HUD and his jaw tightened at the figures. “There are two bullets lodged in his abdomen. He has lost a significant amount of blood and is at risk of going into hypovolemic shock.” 

“Call Dr Cho, tell her we have a severely injured Spider-man and we need her at the Compound now. Send the quinjet for her and all the data.”

“Yes, Boss.”

“Call Steve Rogers.”

The call was answered within three rings. “Hey Tony…”

“Steve, I’ll be landing in 7 minutes. I need you to alert the Medbay staff, call in more people, whatever, all hands on deck.”

“What happened?”

“It’s…it’s Peter, he’s been shot.”

“What?!” Steve’s voice was loud, panicked, and not what he needed right now. Maybe he made an extra movement because Peter suddenly let out a loud moan.

“I…I can’t explain now. I have to keep him awake.”

“Copy that.”

The phone call cut off and Tony took what he hoped would be a calming breath before he looked back down at Peter. Peter; whose eyes were now closed. 

“Pete, Underoos, eyes front and centre, come on.” He jostled him hard this time in pure panic. 

Peter yelped, his eyes snapping open then narrowing like that had taken all his strength.

“There you go, there’s those baby browns. I bet you get all the ladies with those right? Or just the one that you like – MJ is it?”

Peter was looking at him but there was no awareness there- his eyes almost glassy. His chest was rising and falling rapidly in short bursts.

“Ok ok, you don’t want to talk about that? What about your birthday? You gonna let me get you a car after all? I promise it won’t be too flashy. Only a hint of gold.” He just hoped the verbal diarrhoea about all the things he teased the kid for would keep him alert. It didn’t work and a moment later Tony watched as Peter’s eyes rolled into the back of his head.

“Shit, no, no kid. Come on. You want me to mention how hot Aunt May is again? You hate that, come on. Should I take her out for dinner? Treat her to some Tony Stark circa 2004?”

There was no response. Shit, shit, shit.

“FRI. How long?”

“2 minutes.” 

“Faster, faster.”

It was the longest two minutes of his life as he kept babbling to the kid in an attempt to wake him up.

The team were already on the roof with a gurney as he touched down - they rushed closer to him. 

“Jesus H Christ,” Bucky mumbled as Tony laid Peter on the gurney. As soon as he had, he practically threw himself out of the suit.

“FRI says he has two bullets in his gut; looks like a graze on the temple. Lost a lot of blood.” 

Sam was at Peter’s stomach now, immediately pressing down on the saturated sweater as they moved off the roof and into the elevator. 

“Why didn’t you take him to the nearest hospital?” Steve asked.

Tony hesitated but just for half a second. “He’s…he’s enhanced. Doesn’t want anyone to find out. All the staff here are NDA’d up.” 

“Enhanced how?” Natasha asked as she turned Peter’s head to see the graze.

“Spider-man. He’s Spider-Man, “ Tony spat out.

Silence filled the elevator; Tony felt eyes on him, and he just couldn’t look at any of them. He knew what they were going to say. What he deserved for them to say - that he should never have brought a child into their mess.

“Tony.” Steve’s voice was heavy with both shock and disappointment: it only added to the disgust in himself that he already felt.

“We’ll talk about it later,” Bucky’s voice cut through. “Right now, we concentrate on him.”

Tony looked up enough to catch Barnes’ eye, not seeing the expected anger but a simple, steely resolve. He nodded at him in thanks.

The doors opened and they pushed the gurney through to the Medbay. The two nurses who were the skeleton staff came rushing towards them and Nat and Bucky stepped back. 

Sam quickly moved off the gurney making room for the nurse. His hands were painted red by the sweater he was still pressing against Peter's stomach. The nurse made quick work of Peter's suit, cutting it off him while Steve pulled the fabric away on one side, Nat on the other. 

Even in that moment, Tony was struck by a flash of sadness as the kid's original costume lay in shreds. Peter would be crushed to lose it. That thought was quickly overtaken by the new image in front of him; Peter’s pale skin coated in blood. Blood, blood everywhere. His chest started to tighten. This was no time for a panic attack.

“FRIDAY,” his voice wobbled as he barked the words out, “where the fuck is Cho?”

“I’m here.”

Tony turned to the voice, Helen Cho striding in from the hallway, a team of nurses close by. He quietly thanked Thor that she’d agreed to his generous package to keep her in New York. It wasn’t the first time he’d had to call on her for help.

“I need some space.”

All the Avengers bar Tony stepped to the side of the room. Tony felt like the room was silent as he watched Dr Cho and her team bustle around the boy: her barking out orders.

“His body is trying to heal around the bullets. We need to get them out now. Prep surgery.”

“Helen, we still don’t have an anaesthetic for him,” Tony said, his stomach churning further.

“I know but we need to get them out. It’ll be better now than having to open him up without any later. We can give him some of Cap’s painkillers again and hope that helps.”

“Isn’t that dangerous? Couldn’t they hurt him?” Steve said from the side.

“His metabolism is faster than yours – which is the problem with the anaesthetic. We tried a dose of your painkillers before, and they helped a little,” Tony answered, not taking his eyes off Peter who was far too still. _Only a little._

“I need all of you out of here now so I can prep him for surgery.”

The other Avengers did as they were told but Tony didn’t move.

“You too, Tony.”

“Like Hell.”

“Tony…”

“No, no fucking way.”

Natasha was suddenly in front of him, taking his attention away from Dr Cho; her hand taking his firmly. “Come on, Tony.” 

Tony looked over her head towards Dr Cho. “Whose facility is this?”

Nat grabbed him by the chin, stealing his focus. “Tony, she needs to work without distraction for Peter. You can watch through the window.” 

He looked into her calm, green eyes for half a beat before turning on his heel. Out in the hallway, Sam was pulling bloodied gloves off of his hands and putting them into a bin. Steve and Bucky were next to each other, silently looking through the Medbay window. Tony joined them and they stood in silence for a few moments, watching the bustle inside. 

Tony’s brain tried to catch up with what had happened but before he could, Cho and her team came out of the Medbay, pushing the gurney. Peter was still passed out but now had an oxygen mask on: one limp hand flopped off the side of the bed. 

Tony didn’t realise he’d followed until the doors to the operating theatre closed in front of him, almost hitting him in the face. He moved to stand and look through the window there: the medical team bustling about, hooking up machines and readying supplies. 

The lack of suitable drugs made him feel sick but at least they had previously taken a decent amount of blood to store for the kid. Memories of sitting with Peter while he had it taken: the kid’s face scrunched up every time he had to have a needle near him. Face-planting a building, he was nonchalant about; having a hot nurse stick a tiny needle in him, that had him sweating buckets. Tony had bought a supply of lollipops and had enjoyed the easy grin that had spread on the boy’s face whenever he produced one after what Peter not-so-affectionately called a ‘bloodletting’ session.

Tony could feel his body shaking as his mind tried to catch up with what happened. “I, uh, I need to call his Aunt. Shit, his Aunt May…”

“Tony,” Sam was in front of him now; his brows furrowed. “Are you hurt?”

“Am I…no? Why would you ask that?”

“There’s blood on your neck.”

His neck felt dry, but Tony put his hand up to it instinctively. It was pointless as when he looked down at his hands, they were already caked in dried blood. Blood that was etched into all the crevices of his skin and under his nails.

“No, it’s all his…it’s all his blood.”

There was a handwashing station behind him, and he stumbled to it, scrubbing his hands harshly as if to get rid of the memory of Peter’s form crumpling and the hot pulse of blood coming from his stomach. 

Pink-tinged water washed down the plughole as he remembered the way he had spoken to the kid, not knowing that he had two slugs in his stomach the whole time.

The nausea came as a rush and he wretched over the sink, throwing up everything he’d eaten for the last day, and more it felt. There was a warm hand on his back- an attempt at comfort. When he finished, he pulled himself upright, spitting out disgusting remnants from between his teeth. A metal hand hovered in his eye range with a plastic cup of water which he took.

“Thanks,” his voice was gravelly.

Sam was there and guided him into a chair. He sipped the cool water for a moment, feeling it glide down his burning throat.

Natasha crouched in front of him. “Give me the Aunt’s number, I’ll call her.”

Tony shook his head. This was his responsibility. He pulled his phone up and stared at May’s contact number. He could almost hear her reaction in his head already, and his sore stomach contracted at the thought that she might have to deal with another tragedy on this date.

He got to his feet and somehow carried himself the few steps across the waiting room to the viewing window. He could barely see Peter with all the other bodies buzzing around him. The phone was like a lead weight in his hand. At the last minute, he wimped out and called Happy instead.

“You find him?” Happy said as soon as he picked up.

Tony breathed out. “Yeah, I did. Are you still with May?”

“Yeah, we’re just watching Downton.”

“I, uh, I need you to get her here. To the Compound.”

Happy’s voice changed in an instant. “What’s going on?”

“He’s been shot,” Tony got the words out, but they pained him. “Don’t panic May, but…get down here.”

He left off the word _quickly_. He knew Happy was fond of the kid, much as he hated to show it, and he didn’t want him getting into an accident trying to get here quickly.

“On our way.” Happy didn’t bother signing off with any other pleasantries.

A hand on Tony’s arm lifted his attention from looking through the window a moment later. He turned to see Nat next to him. He wasn’t sure if he hadn’t noticed due to her super soft spy feet or if he was that out of it.

She had a cloth in her hand and she slowly reached up for his neck with it. It was warm and damp on his skin and as he went to take it off her, she dodged it away from him. “Just let me get it for you.”

He let her wipe the blood off of his neck and the top of his chest with care as his heart continued to beat a mile a minute.

“You should sit,” she said as she stepped to the side to throw the bloodied cloth in the bin.

“No, I’m….”

He didn’t finish his sentence, just turned his head to look back into the operating room.

“You get through to his family?” Sam’s voice filtered past the sound of his heart in his ears, and he turned in his direction to answer.

“Yeah, Happy’s with his Aunt May. He’ll get her here.”

Just then there was a loud scream followed by a bang. Tony’s eyes went to the operating room where he saw Peter pushing people off of him.

Shit.

Tony’s body responded to the adrenaline and he was in the room in seconds. Dr Cho was pulling herself off of the ground.

“Are you ok?” 

She looked flustered but simply straightened her scrubs. “As soon as I tried to get in to get the bullets, he started pushing us off. Despite the blood loss, he’s still too strong. He broke the restraints.”

“Shit.” 

Tony progressed over to Peter who was surrounded in a wide arc by fearful-looking nurses. He had managed to curl up and was moaning lowly: the oxygen mass crushed next to him and blood smeared all up his chest now. 

“Pete, buddy, I know it hurts but I need you to lie back now. We’ve got to get the bullets out.” Tony was by his head now, and he snaked a hand into his hair and the boy just whimpered.

“Mr Stark? Is that you?” His voice was faint.

“Yeah, bud.”

“It hurts. Bad.” Peter puffed out, his face contorting as another rush of pain must have hit him.

Tony snapped over to look at Cho. “Can we get him some pain meds?” 

“I already gave him a dose of Cap’s. I don’t want to risk giving him more – now is not the time to experiment. Besides, unless he’s under, it won’t stop him feeling me getting the bullets out. They are in deep; I need him still to do it.” Dr Cho’s face was hard set, a vein in her neck twitching.

Tony turned back to Peter.

“Hear that bud, we’re just going to whip that excess metal out, ok? But I need you to lie back.”

Peter let him take his arm and move him so both shoulders were now on the bed. When Tony started to move his hips, Peter suddenly let out a yelp, slamming an arm into him. Tony flew back with the force, crashing into some shelves and the wall behind them. Pain splintered through his body and he felt a sharp sting on his forehead. Steve came barrelling into the room and straight over to him.

“Jesus Christ Tony, are you ok?”

Tony took the proffered hand and let Steve help him up without answering the question.

“He can’t control his strength when he’s hurting like this. Cho can’t get the bullets out.” Tony swiped at the blood that was running down his face. A nurse handed him a pad and he held it to his face.

Dr Cho came over to them. “Captain, you might be able to keep him still?”

Steve looked at him with a question in his eyes.

Tony nodded grimly, his chest tight: there wasn’t time to think up a better plan, it was that or have him bleed out. “I don’t see any other way.”

Steve seemed to set his jaw before moving over to the table. Dr Cho directed Steve where she wanted him and he bent down, bracing an arm on Peter’s thighs and the other on his chest.

Peter didn’t move; not until Dr Cho started working on him again. His eyes burst open, and he let out a pained shout. “Get off, get off.”

Steve was trying to calm him with his best Captain’s voice. “Just for a few minutes Peter, and then it will be over.”

Peter screamed and then jack-knifed, throwing Steve back a few steps. Steve looked shocked but moved back again. 

“Bucky!” Steve shouted and the man appeared as if he’d been expecting to be called. “I’ll take his legs; you keep his arms pinned down.”

Bucky’s face was deadly serious; simply nodding once. Tony could only watch as the metal arm that haunted his dreams clamped down around Peter, gripping onto the side of the bed.

Once they were both in position, Dr Cho started again. Peter again started shouting and trying to move but the combined strength of the two super soldiers seemed to be enough to stop any massive movement. Watching the two of them hold him down was enough to make bile rise to the back of his throat again. 

Tony paced as Bucky was talking constantly at a low volume, trying to calm Peter. Each moan from the kid was like someone slicing into his arm – sharp and shocking despite how many times it was repeated. He felt useless; the aching pain in his sternum growing as the time – and the moans – continued. 

Cho must have hit something as Peter suddenly let out a sharper scream and Bucky had to flex his arm against Peter to keep him still, a bead of sweat running down his face.

“That’s one,” Dr Cho said over the melee, dropping a bullet with a clink into a metal pan.

“Tony,” Bucky had never called him by his first name before, which was an odd thing to notice at a time like this. “Can you come and talk to him? He recognised you before. You’ve got the best chance at calming him.”

Did he? Tony didn’t feel confident in that as he got to the head of the bed. He took Peter’s thrashing head in his hands and tried to still it. 

“Hey Kid, can you look at me?”

Peter’s eyes snapped open; his pupils so dilated they looked practically black.

“Mr Stark?” His throat sounded like it was hurting him.

“Yeah kid, I’m here, OK? You’re gonna be okay. You’ve just got to stay still for a bit then we can give you more of the good stuff and you can float around for a bit.” He was doubtful that it would work that well, but he was willing to give the kid some hope if it helped calm him right now.

Peter let out a whimper. Tony decided on more distraction; not letting his eyes flick to Cho and what she was doing but kept them pinned to Peter’s.

“Yeah, and then we’ll have you up and about and back in the lab. We could look at that new web formula you’ve been working on, maybe even test it out on Sam – web him to the wall.”

Peter’s brow furrowed and his chest was still rising and falling rapidly, even with the weight of an ex-assassin on it.

“Hell, Bucky here might even let you take a look at his arm. I know you’re dying to have a look; you’ve dropped enough hints.”

“Yeah, you can poke about in there if you want, kid,” Bucky said, going along with the distraction technique, “make me do the Macarena or flip Steve off or something.”

Peter suddenly let out a scream; his whole body went rigid again and both soldiers tensed to keep him down.

“Mr Stark, make it stop, please. Please…” Peter mumbled and Tony’s throat tightened. Tony ran his hands through Peter’s hair in a vain attempt to offer some comfort. “Mr Stark, Mr Stark please, it hurts, it hurts. Please, Tony...Tony, make it stop…”

Tony’s chest was so tight he wasn’t sure he was even breathing at this point; the boy’s begging pushing him over the edge. He didn’t bother to try to stop the tear that ran down his face as he crouched down so his mouth was close to Peter’s ear. He cupped his face, gently stroking it as he spoke the words as clearly as he could. “Cho is almost done, you just have to hold on a little longer. It’s going to be ok, you’re doing so well, buddy.“

Peter’s body suddenly went limp. Enough that it startled both Bucky and Steve, who looked over with concern.

Tony looked over at the monitors but other than his heart rate starting to lower, nothing else had changed. 

“He’s just passed out, I think,” Dr Cho said as she continued to work.

The three men watched her work in silence for a few more minutes before she straightened up.

“Both slugs are out, I just have a few sutures and then I’ll let his body take over the rest. The bleeding has already stopped, now that the bullets are gone and not aggravating the tissue any longer. His healing factor is incredible.”

Both Bucky and Steve relaxed their holds but stayed in position just in case. Tony did too, stroking Peter’s hair and not taking his eyes off of his slack face.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks to MsHermia for her thorough beta-ing. She has a thing against long sentences you know. It's almost obsessive.
> 
> Would love to hear all your thoughts :-)


	4. Chapter 4

The small waiting room was filled with three exhausted looking heroes. Not that Tony felt like one right now. He felt like a failure with a capital F. A rubbish mentor for not noticing something was seriously wrong with Peter, a bad teammate for not telling them about Spider-man, and an all-around terrible human being for bringing a child to a fight.

They hadn’t been sat out there for long – long enough for a nurse to come and put a band aid on the cut on his forehead. Helen and her team were cleaning Peter up and getting him settled in Medbay two – avoiding the first one that was still littered with broken shelves. They’d all trudged down to the chairs outside what constituted as a waiting room without any discussion.

The throbbing in his back was becoming more apparent as the adrenaline began to wear off. He needed an ice pack and to chase down some painkillers with more of that scotch. God, was it only a few hours earlier that they’d been having dinner upstairs?

Sam and Natasha had gone…somewhere? He hadn’t been paying attention: his brain too full of the echoes of Peter’s moans. Steve and Barnes hadn’t gone with them, for whatever reason, but elected to stay close by. Tony couldn’t say that he minded.

Barnes sat back and gave a heavy sigh. “Well, that is one experience I never want to have again.”

Tony looked at him; his dark eyebrows stitched together as he stared vacantly at the opposite wall. If the Winter Soldier thought that experience was harrowing, then it probably was pretty bad.

Steve nodded along with him. “Poor kid.”

Tony’s hands gripped the handles of the chair tightly at the thought of how much pain Peter must’ve been in. 

“The lack of pain relief for him is a real issue, huh?” Barnes was looking at him and Tony cleared his throat.

“Yeah, we’ve tried a few combinations. Nothing really helped all that much – other than Steve’s stuff. Cho is uneasy about testing too much given his age – don’t want to damage his liver and kidneys.” Tony sighed, rubbing the heel of his hand into his eyes. “His mutation is so unique. Last time we pushed it to a full dose of Steve’s but it still wore off pretty quickly.”

“Last time he got shot?” Steve asked, his face cloaked in concern.

“Not been shot before, that I know of,” Tony added on. Hell, maybe he had but he hadn’t told Tony that either. “Stabbed once, broken ribs and a nasty arm break about 2 months back.”

Cho had been here for that – having to reset the arm. That wasn’t fun but at least it was quick. At least compared to tonight.

The two men’s faces were stony. 

Tony shifted in the uncomfortable seat. “Occupational hazard for an idiot who flings himself around the city on strings.”

“You made those for him – the webs?” Bucky asked.

Tony chuckled. “I mean, I like a gimmick as much as the next guy, but that was all him. Came up with the formula himself – I can’t even replicate it.“ Both Steve and Bucky’s eyebrows raised at that. “Like I said, he’s a little genius.”

Steve’s eyes lingered on him then: assessing him in some way.

“Tony!”

A high, panicked voice interrupted them, coming from the end of the hall. _May._

Tony was on his feet as she rushed down the bright hallway towards him, Happy struggling to keep up. He was surprised when she straight away wrapped her arms around him giving him a (pain inducing) squeeze before letting go. 

“Oh my god, Happy said he’d been shot. How is he? Is he ok? Can I see him?”

Tony manoeuvred her to the window where the medical staff were hovering over him: Peter visible with an oxygen mask on his face now, looking almost serene. Happy arrived next to them: looking in on Peter before giving Tony a heavy look.

“Helen said she’d let me know when we could go in. They’re just cleaning him up. The, uh, operation was a success – removed two bullets. Body’s already starting to heal in it’s freaky, unique way.”

A whole heap of tension visibly dropped from May’s shoulders as she looked at Peter’s still form.

“Oh, thank God.” She wiped tears from her cheeks as she turned from the window to look at him. “Of all the times to be thankful for that goddamn spider-”

She cut herself off as she glanced behind him, suddenly realising that they weren’t alone. Steve and Bucky were both already on their feet, as the 1940s gentlemen that they were.

“Ma’am,” Steve said, ducking his head politely as she looked at them.

May looked wary and, after a moment, Tony realised why.

“Yeah, I’m afraid that the proverbial spider is out of the bag – _web?_ \- whatever.” Tony gestured towards the super soldiers. “May, meet Steve Rogers and James Barnes.”

The two men gave her gentle smiles, even the scary ex-assassin.

“Of course, I know who you are.” May gave them a tired smile. “Peter speaks of you, often.”

“Not as often as he talks about me, I hope...” Tony said, trying to lighten the mood. Judging by May’s look, it was unappreciated.

“And this was a group mission, or something...?” May’s eyes were roaming their blood-stained clothes.

“No. Uh, Peter was a bit disorientated and these two just helped him stay still while he was on the table.”

May seemed to understand what that meant right away, and she took an almost audible gulp. 

“Ma’am, maybe you should sit down?” Steve moved forward as May started to wobble. Tony was nearest and caught her by the elbow, guiding her into a plastic chair.

Happy arrived with a cup of water by the time she was seated. May took the cup; pressing it to her lips for a shaky sip.

“Sorry, today has just been...” A noticeable shudder went through her. First anniversaries were tough at the best of times. She shouldn’t be having to deal with a missing kid today. She certainly shouldn’t be having to deal with finding out he was injured in exactly the same way her husband had been exactly a year ago. 

Tony grabbed her hand on instinct. They didn’t know each other well, half the time he could have sworn she hated him, but right now it seemed the thing to do. His impulse was rewarded by her gripping his hand right back. 

“He’s going to be fine.” Tony was glad he was telling the truth. The well of anger from early was overfilling again: what was Peter thinking?

May nodded to herself and he realised that he was not the only one prone to anger when she spoke; 

“Good, because once he’s recovered, I’m going to kill him.”

\------

Once May was settled watching over a sleeping Peter, with Happy by her side, Tony had gone up to the living quarters. FRIDAY was on alert to let him know if Peter woke, but while he was waiting, he needed a shower, change of clothes and some food before he went back down. Sleep should probably be on that list too, but it was highly unlikely.

The elevator spat him out on the communal floor, and he was welcomed by the sight of the residential Avengers, seated around the island, looking right at him. Steve and Bucky had washed and changed clothes; Barnes’ long hair pulled back into a ponytail, droplets of water hanging off the gathered strands.

“Tony, there are some sandwiches here for you,” Sam said.

“Thanks. I need to shower and change though.”

“We’ll wait for you out here, “ Nat responded.

So, they wanted to have this out now, huh? Tony didn’t say anything but just gave a tight nod.

The idea of prolonging the inevitable was tempting but he decided that the day couldn’t get much worse. He showered quickly, changing into sweatpants and a soft, threadbare AC/DC t-shirt that always comforted him.

The group were still around the island but this time there was a holoscreen in front of them; a YouTube compilation of Spider-man's pursuits playing.

Steve heard him enter first. “FRIDAY, close the video.” The image was whisked away and Tony felt naked under all of their stares. 

“You know, normally, the firing squad lines up so my back, “ he gestured behind him, “should be against that wall, right?”

Steve sighed in his _‘am I the only adult here?’_ way. “You are not under fire, Tony.”

Tony forced himself up onto a stool facing them before shooting a grim grin. “Not yet.”

“So,“ Steve took the lead, because of course he did. It was just who he was. “I take it those bruises I saw the other day were from Peter’s...work?”

“Yeah, sorry about the subterfuge on that. It wasn’t my secret to divulge.” Tony let out a breath. “God, he’s going to be pissed at me when he wakes up.”

“He’s a smart kid, I’m sure he will understand it was necessary,” Steve countered.

"I dunno. He was pretty adamant about keeping it under wraps.”

It was Sam’s turn to take the wheel. “That surprises me; I mean he gets along with us all well.”

“I think he would have done eventually. He was just a bit...uneasy how it would go down after Germany.”

The air in the room shifted slightly - perhaps as they all recalled that day and their emotions.

“Oh God, I hit him with my shield.” Steve dropped his head in his hands, fingers threading through his hair. “I dropped a loading bridge on him.”

Sam joined the pity party: his face solemn. “Redwing threw him out of a window.”

Bucky flexed his metal hand. “He caught my punch like it was nothing; at least you managed to land a hit.”

Disapproving looks from Sam and Steve were shot Bucky’s way but he just shrugged.

“Bringing him - not cool, Tony.” It was Nat that was looking at him: her green eyes flashing with anger and boring into his. He couldn’t help but look away. It would make sense that she’d have the biggest issue with it, given how she was forcibly raised.

Tony thought about arguing the point; it wasn’t like he had created Spider-man but there was a level of hurt behind the anger, and he didn’t want to make that worse.

“We were short on numbers.” Tony rubbed between his eyes: a headache looming. “I told him to keep his distance and web you guys up, but as we saw there, and today, he doesn’t listen.”

“He shouldn’t be out fighting crime at all,” Nat added pointedly.

“Don’t you think I know that? I couldn’t get him to stop if I tried. He wants to make the city a better place. He thinks he _has_ to.” Tony had tried to disavow him of the notion that every crime was his to stop. It seemed to go in one ear and out the other. “He was doing it long before I gave him the suit and as you can see, he will do it without the suit too.”

“Yeah, what was with the get up today? Super suit in the wash?” Sam asked.

“When he quit the internship, he left the suit too.” They all looked confused. “I don’t know why, but I have the feeling that it – that all of this - has something to do with his Uncle’s anniversary. I didn’t know, but it was a year ago yesterday.”

There was a beat of silence in the room.

“How did he die?” Sam asked quietly.

“Shot in a bodega robbery gone wrong. Peter was there.” Tony had learnt all this when he had recruited Peter – of course he had done his homework. But there was a difference in reading a footnote in the history of someone you don’t know, to imagining an actual experience of someone you cared about.

“Jesus,” Bucky said, his eyes fluttering shut for a moment.

“Well, I think we have the motive for why he became Spider-man,” Sam said, his arms crossed tightly across his body.

Nat pulled a tablet out and started tapping into it furiously. It was distracting but Tony’s attention was pulled back to Bucky.

“And why he’s been so quiet recently,” Bucky added, his metal fingers tapping lightly on the marble.

The guilt from earlier had a rebirth in the pit of his stomach. He’d been inattentive and Peter had almost died as a result. He wasn’t the right person to be overseeing a teenage superhero. He should just hand Peter off to Steve; hell, the previously brainwashed assassin had more insights into the kid’s mental health and he’d only known him a month. Maybe he should take it over.

“Tony.”

His name was said sharply, like he hadn’t heard it the first time. Judging by the looks of the others, he was right. Nat was the one looking most expectantly at him.

She flipped the screen around to face him. The bloodied face of a scared looking man in a mug shot stared back at him. “This is the man currently in prison for the murder of Ben Parker. Was under the influence of drugs at the time; plead guilty. Delivered to the precinct by none other than Spider-man.”

Tony looked up from the photo. “Peter found him?”

“And didn’t kill him...” Bucky trailed off, sounding slightly impressed.

“Of course he didn’t kill him!” Tony all but snapped. Would it have changed how he felt about him if he had? Everyone in this room had taken lives; but this was Peter. He couldn’t imagine it.

“People do all sorts of thing out of character when they are grieving,” Nat said, spinning the tablet back around to her.

Tony’s eyes narrowed at Nat. Was that a jibe at him? He didn’t look over in either Barnes’s or Steve’s direction.

“Hmmm,” Nat murmured, lifting her eyes from the tablet. “He told the cops he got the gun off a guy called Joey Hess, who was busy serving 11 months at Riker's. However, Hess got let out a few weeks ago."

“Let me see.” Nat swung the device back to Tony. There was another mug shot – a more sinister looking man with a bored look on his face. Tony would hazard a guess that it wasn’t his first time taking a mug shot. Tony’s eyes ran down the information on the screen, stopping at the ‘Known Associates’ tab.

“Shit.” Tony chewed his lip. “FRIDAY - run this photo through Karen’s logs, starting most recently – see if Peter hasn’t come across this guy.”

“What is it?” Steve asked at the same time Sam asked “Who’s Karen?”

“Karen is the AI in Peter’s suit. Hess is linked to the Padrinos Motorcycle gang.”

“Boss,” FRIDAY interrupted. “Spider-man followed Mr Hess on several occasions over the last two weeks – including to the Padrinos clubhouse.”

“Of course he did.” Tony rubbed his eyes.

“Aren’t they essentially a gang?” Sam asked, his eyebrows furrowing.

“The same gang Peter fought tonight, interrupting their retrieval of a boat load of illegal firearms.” Tony jolted upright. “Oh shit, I didn’t call the Police.”

“I did, Boss.” FRIDAY interjecting. Tony thanked Thor that his creation was so smart. “Seventeen members of the gang were arrested, and all illegal firearms were seized and taken into NYPD custody.”

“Seventeen guys? With guns? No wonder he got shot,” Nat said plainly.

Even though he already knew the reality – had seen all of them laid out – it still left a bitter taste in his mouth.

“He’s meant to stick to the ground. Help the little guy. He was starting to come to me with the bigger stuff and now this…” Tony threw his hand up in the air.

“Tony, this was obviously personal,” Steve said calmly when Tony felt anything but.

“Yeah, well he should have come to me anyway…”

The team looked sad, and it was more that he could stomach. “I’m going to keep May company.”

No one tried to stop him.

———

May was dozing when Tony got there and he very quietly pulled the seat over to the other side of Peter. The monitor beeped away methodically and it was reassuring rather than irritating. Tony stared at Peter: his skin still so sallow. A half empty bag of blood hung next to him; a darkened, thin line of wire disappearing into his small body.

It could have been a few hours later, he lost track of time, when there was movement on the bed. It was a small motion of the head, a shuffle of a knee. Peter’s eyes flickered and Tony stood up and edged forward so the kid could see him if he did open them up.

They did, pupils focussing in on him.

“Hey Mr Stark…” Peter slurred; the drugs thankfully having a mild effect now his stomach was no longer full of lead.

“Hey kid,” Tony couldn’t help but smile at him even through his conflicting emotions. He undulated between anger at Peter and sadness for him; both causing a churning in his gut that he didn’t think had truly abated since May’s phone call yesterday. “How are you feeling?”

Peter gave a sleepy smile and his eyes closed again. That good, huh?

Tony reached out and put his hand on Peter’s cheek, wanting to hear more from him. Peter let out a soft, contented sound as he moved his head more to rest in Tony’s hand. Tony’s heart clenched with so much feeling that it made his breath catch. 

After a moment, Tony figured Peter was pulled back into sleep and started to take a step back. Peter made a noise.

“What was that buddy?” Tony stepped back, putting his hand on the boy’s head now; fingers settling in his wavy mop.

“Did I get ‘em all?” Peter seemed to be trying – and failing – to open his eyes.

Tony sighed. Of course he’d be worried about that. Self-sacrificial idiot.

“Yeah Underoos, you did.” 

A wider smile came on Peter’s dopey face and a few minutes later his body slackened, and Tony watched him drift back off to sleep.

——-

The next day went much the same. Dr Cho kept Peter regularly dosed on Cap’s painkillers. Peter was mostly sleeping, though he did wake up with moments of lucidity. Cho had reassured Tony that it wasn’t the painkillers causing his sleepiness but his body need rest to replace the blood and repair the damage. 

It was on the Monday morning that Peter woke looking more like himself than before. Tony relieved Sam who had taken the last shift while he and May rested and washed and other boring necessities, like eating. When Tony arrived he was pleased to see Peter sitting upright, taking a long drink from a bottle of Gatorade. He still looked tired, but the colour of his skin was almost back to normal. They’d almost depleted his stock of blood supplies, but Tony wasn’t about to tell him that he’d have to restock in a week or two. Time to bust out the lollipop jar again.

“How are you feeling?” Tony asked, sitting back in the chair.

“Yeah, I’m totally fine now, Mr Stark. A-OK.” Peter smiled but it had a nervous edge to it.

“Are you sure about that?”

“Oh yeah. I’m almost back to full strength and everything.” Well, that was a solid lie, but Tony wasn’t going to call him out on it. Not when it suited his agenda.

“Good to hear it,” Tony said smiling sharply. “That means you’ll be up to talking about what happened then.”

The plastered-on smile dropped right off.

“I’m not sure what there is to say.” 

_Yeah, cause there is no defence for that level of stupidity_ _._

Peter was quiet, avoiding his eyes, staring instead at the sheets that covered his legs. The silence was too reminiscent of the last few days and it stoked the anger inside of him.

“I’d have thought there would be a pretty detailed story to go with what happened - a rationale for your behaviour?” Tony’s elbows were on the arms of the chair, his fingers interlocking tightly together. “Unless you are usually this casually cruel to your Aunt…” 

Peter flinched a little. Tony didn’t want to hurt him, but this was serious stuff. Peter could not put himself in danger like that again: Tony wouldn’t let him.

Peter still did not respond, just scratched away at the label of the Gatorade; little curls of paper drifting to rest on the bedsheets.

Looking at the silent teen just made heat rise from his stomach and into his chest.

“Maybe we could start with what do you think might have happened if I hadn’t turned up, huh?” Peter gave a tiny shrug, eyes still anywhere but on his. “I’ll tell you: it would have ended up with you lying in a pool of your own blood in a freezing warehouse.”

Peter shrugged again. 

Tony’s jaw clenched - did he just not get it? He jerked forward, tapping a finger under the band aid that covered the graze on Peter’ head. Peter dodged away in response.

“One more inch and it would have been lodged in your fucking brain!”

“So what?!” Peter snapped; the empty Gatorade bottle knocking to the floor as his hands twitched: the hollow noise echoing against the tile floors.

Tony stilled. He must have misheard, or misunderstood.

“What do you mean ‘so what’?” Peter looked away from him; and Tony’ heart plummeted to his shoes. He paused for a moment; not knowing the right words to use.

When he finally found some, his voice was quiet. “Is this you telling me that you want to die?”

Peter’s head snapped up – his eyes meeting Tony’s straight away for the first time in what felt like weeks. “No…no. But even if I had, I still would have stopped those guns getting to the streets. I would’ve saved people.”

Tony’s throat went dry. This was actually worse. This was more than a stupid kid taking on too much. This was more than reckless. It was no sense of self-preservation at all.

“So, your life – that is meaningless?”

The kid looked away again, staring at the hands in his lap.

“And what about May when you are gone, huh?” Tony said. _What about me?_ “You think she’ll get over that?”

Peter grimaced at that, his fingers working a groove into the mattress.

“I have to stop it happening to other people, I have to.”

“Why didn’t you tell me what you were doing? I could’ve helped. I thought we were over this…this one man show thing.” Tony gesticulated towards him. “Hell, you told me about that trafficking ring the other month and the Feds got it sorted. It worked out well, right?”

“This was different.” Peter said, his tone reverent. “I had to do this one by myself.”

The obvious question of ‘Why?’ boomed loudly in Tony’s brain but the kid pre-empted him.

“I don’t want to talk about it.” The words came out in a quick spill and Peter wrapped his arms around himself.

“You’re going to have to,” Tony sharply replied with a huff.

Tony was about to follow up again when he noticed that Peter was shaking slightly. 

“I’m actually really tired, Mr Stark. I think I’m going to go to sleep now.” Peter turned his back on him – a clear dismissal.

Everything in Tony’s being told him to push and prod and argue until he got some fucking truth out of him. But he looked over at Peter; his small body curled into himself as tightly as his wounded stomach would let him. This was obviously delicate, and he was the least qualified person to be talking to him; he’d only make it worse.

A few minutes passed as he wrestled with what to do, and then he spoke quietly.

“Ok, you get some rest.” 

Peter didn’t respond at all. Tony settled back into his seat; thoughts whizzing a million miles an hour through his mind. He watched the rise and fall of Peter’s back as his breathing began to even out. He so badly wanted the kid to talk to him; to trust him. Peter used to, at least he thought he did; where had he gone wrong? 

—-

Sleep apparently was possible for him in a chair; his body, however, was unimpressed. He woke with pains in various places and the driest mouth this side of the Sahara. He opened his eyes to see Dr Cho moving quietly around the room. Tony sat up and suppressed a groan; his eyes automatically darting over to a still sleeping Peter.

“How is he doing?” Tony said quietly, happy when Peter didn’t rouse.

Dr Cho came over to him then. “Well, really well. He’s a medical marvel.”

“Bloods?” 

“All levels are almost back to normal. He can be out of here tomorrow, but he needs to rest for a few days, even with his healing factor.”

Tony nodded and stretched his back out: pain shot through it when it pulled at his bruises. He let out a groan that had Dr Cho moving towards him. He waved her away.

“I’m fine.”

“Let me be the judge of that please.” Cho gave him her sternest Doctor look. He rolled his eyes but moved to the edge of the chair so that she could lift his top up. Her cool hands pressed against the bruises, firmly enough to presumably check for breaks.

“Just bruised.” She surmised, like he didn’t already know that. He was about to quip back to her when a voice came from the bed.

“What happened?”

They both turned towards Peter who was evidently now not asleep but propped up on one elbow looking at Tony’s back with wide eyes.

Tony hastily pulled his top down, shooting a look at Cho that he hoped told her not to spill the beans.

“Oh, it’s nothing.”

Peter’s brow furrowed deeply, highlighting the crease in his cheek from where it had been pressed into his pillow.

“Was it…was it at the warehouse? Did one of those guys get you?” Peter seemed to pale at the thought. “Because I thought I webbed them all up…I…”

“Woah, woah,” Tony held his hands up. “It wasn’t at the warehouse.”

“Then when?”

Tony’s resolve not to tell him, battled with the urge not to lie. 

“It’s not a big deal. You were just a bit out of it when we were trying to get the bullets out.”

Peter’s eyes widened further. “I…I did that to you?”

Tony crossed the space to him. “Technically it was the wall.” 

“Oh God.” Peter hunched in on himself, his eyes squeezed shut, like it would block out the reality.

“Kid,” Tony’s voice was like honey, “it was an accident, you didn’t know what you were doing.” 

Peter’s whole body jolted under his touch and away from him. 

“I…uh…I have to go to the bathroom.” 

Peter got off the bed far too quickly for someone who’d just been shot, and Dr Cho moved to steady him, but he made it to the bathroom and closed the door before she could aid him at all.

Dr Cho turned, letting out a breath as she looked at Tony. “Well, that went well.”

Tony ran his hand over his face. “I should have lied.”

Dr Cho shook her head. “I don’t know about that. He’ll get over it. You could always show him the footage?”

Tony full-on gawped at her. “Are you crazy? That scene is fully loaded in my nightmare bank, let’s not add it to his too.”

Dr Cho shrugged and then carried on over to the computer in the corner.

Tony waited back in his sleeping chair, fiddling on his phone. His eyes kept lingering on the bathroom door, waiting for it to open, but it didn’t. What if he had fainted in there or something?

After a few more minutes, he went over and knocked on the door. “You ok in there, Peter?”

There was a slight pause. “Yes, sir.”

Tony didn’t like it when he called him sir. It’d been cute at the beginning – such a polite kid being a rarity these days. Now it just felt formal and distant; too much for someone whose blood had not long again stained his skin.

“Morning Tony.” Tony’s eyes went directly to May who came into the room, looking a lot better than last time he’d seen her. “Peter in the bathroom?”

Tony stepped away, so it didn’t look like he was hovering too close. 

“Um yeah, for a while now, going for the record. He says he’s fine…” Tony raised an eyebrow at her. She gave him a knowing smile.

“I’ll check up on him. Maybe you should go and get some proper rest.” May fiddled with her hands: Tony realising this was a mannerism Peter perhaps picked up from her. “Look, work is on my case…I really can’t miss any more days and Dr Cho said he is out of the woods so…”

“We’ll make sure he’s okay, May,” Tony said, and he saw the discomfort lift from her features. “I was thinking he should spend a few more days here, while he’s regaining his strength. Just in case, y’know…”

May smiled at him almost indulgently. “That would make me feel a lot better, to be honest. I wouldn’t be certain he wouldn’t sneak out again when I’m at work and try something else.”

Tony snorted at her attempt at levity but the idea left a heavy feeling in his stomach. He realised that he wasn’t sure what Peter might do either. 

He watched as May knocked lightly on the door and announced her presence. The door opened immediately, just wide enough to let her in.

Tony took a breath. At least he’d have a few more days to get to the bottom of what happened: to get Peter to open up to him. People were hard work, figuring them out even more so. But he’d have to; for Peter’s sake.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you again to penguinmediamogul and MsHermia for their lovely beta-ing skills!
> 
> Would love to hear your lovely, or not so lovely, thoughts peeps? 😉

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you to the lovely MsHermia for her help pulling this into some sort of readable shape.
> 
> And Penguinmediamogul for not letting me throw away my writing when I have a drama queen doubting moment and for pushing me out of my comfort zone to try to write something shorter. It almost worked...!
> 
> And to those who follow me on Tumblr this is not the long fic I was telling you about - that is still ongoing, this was a nice distraction...!


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